Reflections & Contemplations: Balancing Fire
Flame in the dark | Laura Stuart Obenauf
These reflections are intended to build your awareness of the current state of your inner fire. The goal here is not to judge yourself, but simply to become aware of where you are today and any longer standing patterns that you notice. Becoming aware of fire’s beneficial aspects, as well as where you are, gives you a map of sorts — it’s showing you where and how you can grow. Symbols, intentions and sound work can start entraining your energy field towards the balance you want.
Meditate on the nature of fire
As you consider initiating positive change to cultivate your inner power, it might be helpful to think about the steps you would take to build an actual bonfire. There are connections between the literal and more figurative notions of fire that may provide important insights as you move forward.
If you are building a fire yourself, consider everything necessary to make the fire a success.
First, you need favorable conditions. For instance, you wouldn’t start a fire on a rainy day, or on a day that is too windy and dry.
Also, you would need adequate fuel. The fuel could not be wet or the fire will be smoky and choking. You need to start small — with kindling — or the fire will never get started. But you must be prepared to feed the fire with bigger pieces of fuel over time to keep it going and sustainable.
You must build the fire in a way to balance the movement of air with the containment of heat. If this balance is off, the flame will be smothered or it will burst and fizzle out.
You must have a means to ignite the blaze.
You must have a plan for the changing nature of fire. Are you prepared with more fuel when needed? Do you have a proper means of putting it out if something goes wrong?
Ae you prepared to be present with the fire to keep it alive and safe for yourself and others?
Journal prompts to help you know and transform your inner Fire
Phoenix Rising | Laura Stuart Obenauf
Become curious about how you’re channeling the archetypal energies discussed in these resources on Fire. Below are some questions and prompts to offer food for thought on how balanced your expression of fire is.
As you work through these questions, notice which qualities were easy for you to answer and which were more difficult. This will help show where you can better balance your sense and expression of power.
Perhaps you’ll notice that you gravitate towards Fire’s active qualities. Maybe you are overflowing with passion and ideas, but you have a hard time focusing or committing to something specific longer term. Perhaps you’re more comfortable with Fire’s grounding qualities, you might have a keen eye for quality, discipline or standards, but have a hard time feeling inspired and taking action.
Remember this is about steady growth and cultivation over time. It isn’t a pass/fail test. If you notice you tend towards a shadowy relationship with fire — either through over indulgence or avoidance - that’s okay! We all must do shadow work from time to time. Seek to understand the deeper reasons why you might engage with Fire in this way. They likely holds clues about where you’re dependent on something external as a source of fuel for your fire, or where you’re giving your power away, By first resonating in with your energy just as it is, you can work to transmute it to a higher expression.
How do you relate to Fire’s active qualities:
What excites or motivates you?
What passions or desires inspire you?
Do you feel confident or courageous taking steps, no matter how small, towards the things you want?
How do you relate to Fire’s grounding qualities?
Are our desires and motivations rooted in your highest self?
Do they serve the wellbeing of you and/or of others?
Are your actions (including thoughts, choice of words or tone of voice) honorable?
Once you take action, how do you feel about discerning the quality of your actions?
How do you relate to Fire’s transformative qualities?
How open are you to change in yourself?
How open are you to change in others?
How do you fear or resist changes in yourself or others?
What beliefs (conscious or unconscious) do we hold about commitment, or starting over? How do these beliefs serve or demean your sense of power and wellbeing?
Where are you with Fire’s shadow?
Do you feel compelled to win, dominate and be right regardless of the reason?
Do you feel compelled to judge, critique, or criticize rather than appreciate?
What causes you to lose your temper, even in small degrees? When do you find your thoughts or tone becoming unkind, harsh, strident, snarky even angry, vengeful or wrathful?
Do you have a hard time apologizing, or honoring someone else’s experience? (An expression of their power.)
Do you feel bothered or intimidated by displays of power, success or status in others?
Are you attached to feeling superior? Or afraid of feeling inferior?
Do you avoid action or starting anything new?
Do you avoid success, or chances of failure?
Do you feel intimidated or threatened by change. Particularly changes in other people?
Do you feel powerless around certain people, places, things or substances?
Do you feel that your mood or wellbeing is dependent on the presence of certain people, places things or substances? (For instance, do you notice a significant lift in your mood when you have a certain thing, and notice a significant drop when you don’t?)
Answers to these questions show you where your power is invested. Sometimes our power is invested in healthy habits, thought patterns, actions and relationships that continue to nourish and sustain our internal fire. Sometimes, our power is invested in unhealthy habits or notions that deplete us and cause us to flare out then burn out.
If we’re deeply in our shadow at a given moment, we may be depending too heavily on external sources to generate our source of power: jobs, approval, relationships, goals, successes, perceived superiority, acquisitions, substances, stimulation and more. When these external sources aren’t feeding our flame in the way we want, we feel frustrated angry or depleted.
By noticing where your power is invested, and where you experience power voids or power loss, you can begin to nourish these areas with your awareness and round them out again with the balanced teachings of Fire.
To balance your fire, first become aware of its positive aspects. Cultivate a strong, compelling vision in your mind of healthy, balanced, relaxed power. Maybe you have a symbol — like the Celtic Stag — that represents this kind of power to you. Keep this symbol or vision in your mind while you work on the sound exercises. The sound exercises combined with your awareness and your intention/visualization will begin to transmute this energy.
